Little Lion Boy
by MagicConan14
Summary: Tsuna's job is to seal seven boxes with the Vongola Ring he's been given...and somehow master magic at the same time. It's his duty as a Guardian, after all...Idea originally from kyogre-ana but used with permission. AU.
1. Prologue

Little Lion Boy

I've gone and dropped _Superhero Project_ for an offer I just can't refuse…I've been given permission to elaborate on a magical girl AU idea from Kyogre-ana him/herself! (If you want to see the idea for yourself, then check post/84840290970 on their tumblr.)

WARNING: I don't own the characters in this fic or the original idea. I'm simply using what I've been given to do a story.

* * *

- Prologue -

In the 16th century, a hunchbacked balding man was putting the last finishes on his latest creation – a magic box containing one of 343 powerful beasts. The other 342 boxes, in all the colours of the rainbow, sat around his workroom, filling up the available space and blocking out some of the light from the window.

In front of him were the blueprints for each one bound into a simple book, and as he picked it up and read his name on the front cover ('Geppetto Lorenzini') he trembled for a second. Not because he was cold, but because of the fact he was entrusting them to the local mafia.

/

A young man with blonde spiky hair had snatched ten of the boxes from the mafia. Making a fist and shoving his ring – dubbed the Sky Ring due to its sunset-orange, almost yellow flame – into the hole in the top of the box, he sighed.

"Giotto! What do you have there?" called his pinkheaded friend G, running up to him. The blonde man – Giotto – noticed that G's scars had receded slightly ever since one of the box creatures had incinerated part of his face, giving them the appearance of flames.

"Our new job," Giotto told him, handing over a red box to him. "If you will recall that I gave you that ring yesterday," G pulled out the mentioned ring and admired the engraved tornado for a second, "you will find it has the power to seal away the beast that burnt your face." With relish, G stabbed his ring into the top of the box.

/

By the time of Vongola Nono many years later, the job had fallen to the Guardians – people chosen by the mafia to wield the special Rings that Giotto, G and five others had used – to seal old man Geppetto's boxes. To become a Guardian, there was only one requirement...and that was to be able to use magic. Not stage magic, but the other variety.


	2. Episode 1: Sky Lion

Reborn, carrying the Sky Ring by order of Nono, travelled to Japan in order to find the tenth Guardian. After ending up in Namimori by the pull of the ring, he peered into a classroom and found a boy with brown spiky hair.

/

At lunch, Tsuna ran up to the school roof to eat his bento but was halted by a baby in a suit standing in the doorway. "Ciaossu! I'm Reborn!" the baby said. Tsuna tried to ignore Reborn and step over him but ended up tripping over a pink lump…which, when he scrutinised it, found out was Reborn's fairy costume. "You're the tenth Guardian of the Sky Ring, and that means you can do magic. Of course, someone's going to need to teach you, that someone is me. Now, go stop the lion from causing havoc," Reborn explained, holding out the ring.

After a few seconds, the full force of the realisation hit Tsuna. "I'm just Dame Tsuna! I can't stop a lion!"

He turned back to look at Reborn, but the baby had disappeared, leaving the ring behind. Said ring's case was surrounded by the glow of what appeared to be fire and a burning smell was coming from it. The smell actually wasn't coming from the case, he realised when he peered over the top of it. It was coming from behind the case – there was a burning building in the distance!

Tsuna grabbed the ring, clambered over the railing and took a suicide leap…then landed on a high jump mat. He scurried out the entrance of the school before the disciplinary committee (or anyone) caught him wagging.

/

Reborn was already at the site of the fire (and in costume) when Tsuna arrived.

"The lion's already gone from here," the 'fairy' commented, his head tilted in disappointment at the fire.

After calling the fire department, another fire sprung into being. A tiny fiery orb could be seen running from the second fire site and Reborn dashed after it, fence hopping occasionally for speed. Tsuna hopelessly tried to catch up.

/

When the third fire had been dealt with, they'd finally caught up with the lion – which was much smaller than expected. Surprisingly, it wore a knight visor. Also, the hair of the mane and tail consisted of orange flames.

"Seal it!" Reborn shouted at Tsuna, who still was holding the case.

"How?" he replied, reading the lion's eyes and noticing the innocence in them.

Reborn shook his head in disdain. "Call the lion to you, and then force your intention into the ring. That will light a flame which will allow you to seal the lion."

Tsuna did as he was told, "C - Come here, I don't want to hurt you…" As for the second bit, he pulled the ring out but couldn't get it to light. The lion moved closer, placing a paw on to Tsuna as he attempted once more. Suddenly, both Tsuna and it got wrapped in orange light.

Reborn gave a small grin and told him, "This is your Cambio Forma."

After the light dissipated, Tsuna looked down at himself to find himself in a suit with an orange shirt; a flame like the lion's aglow on his forehead. However, his canines jutted out, his nails had become claws and the lion's tail poked out from just above his pants.


	3. Episode 2: Storm Cat

I'm not fully following Kyogre-ana…you'll know what I mean if you've already read the story idea.

* * *

Something was tickling at Tsuna's mind as he stared at his Cambio Forma in a window…then realised lunchtime was almost over. Instinctively, he crouched down and began running on all fours, Reborn right behind him.

He got back faster than usual but, because he was out of the school, he still got chewed out by Hibari, the disciplinary committee head. The full brunt of Hibari's strength undid his Cambio Forma and Tsuna took the intricate orange box as he ran to class.

/

The next day, Tsuna's grey-haired classmate Gokudera was reading a newspaper in class.

"There's been a strange cat with red flames in its ears sighted around Namimori," he told everyone, his nose still in the paper. "And a baby in a suit has been seen trying to catch it. The cat must be a new variety of UMA…" His voice trailed off as he noticed Tsuna peering over his shoulder, reading the article. Reborn and the cat had last been sighted around the Nami Middle library.

/

After school, Tsuna headed to the library and hunted around…only to find Gokudera getting scratched on the face repeatedly by the cat. Said cat was the size of Natsu (Natsu was the name of Tsuna's new leonine friend), had red almost alien-like eyes and a pelt the colour of a leopard.

Reborn was nearby, another case in his hands and Tsuna eyed it – instead of the Sky Ring's brown velvet case, the new one was a deep red.

After forcing the cat off his face, he glanced over at Tsuna, then the case, then the cat. "You need to tell me something about this UMA, don't you?" he asked smarmily, giving Tsuna a stare that made him spill all his secrets immediately.

/

Once all explanations were done and Gokudera took the ring, the grey-haired boy got down on his knees and bowed deeply. "Please let me join your adventures, Sky Guardian. I promise I'll take good care of this cat." When Gokudera gestured at it, it went back to scratching his face.

Tsuna, who'd slipped on the ring as Gokudera spoke, decided to bring his classmate out of his plight by figuring out how to light the ring, this time succeeding, and jabbing the orange flame at the cat. The cat suddenly burst into red flames and turned into a red box similar to Natsu's.

Reborn muttered, "I think this boy's going to be a good lure for the beasts," to Tsuna just as Gokudera claimed the box. Despite this comment, Tsuna had already made up his mind – Gokudera would be allowed to join them, whether he had the ring, the box, the talent to lure the creatures or nothing.


	4. Episode 3: Rain Dog

A few days later, Tsuna was passing by the mostly empty baseball diamond when a blue flash went past and something kicked him to the ground. The 'something' had been Reborn, decked out in the fairy outfit.

"Hurry up, Dame Tsuna! You need to catch up to that dog," the baby chastised, then dashed away the same way he'd come.

When he looked over at the diamond which was in the direction Reborn had gone, the blue object from earlier – a mostly light brown Akita Inu with blue flames in its ears – was sitting behind the lone batter, another classmate of Tsuna's whose name was Takeshi Yamamoto.

As he snuck up to the diamond, hoping not to scare the dog, his classmate or his strange mentor, he heard Yamamoto laugh and say, "Hey, this dog isn't bad for company! I'd like to keep him." Tsuna had already let Gokudera keep the red box because he'd spilled the beans to him, but he wasn't going to let Yamamoto have this one. Not this time.

Before Reborn could let the swallow get away, Tsuna released Natsu from his box and did Cambio Forma with him, using the lion's stealth to silently grab the dog while Yamamoto turned his attention to Reborn. When Yamamoto's gaze fell on where the Akita Inu had once been his expression became one of disappointment until he noticed a figure in a suit and Reborn moving away from the diamond.

Pursuit was inevitable.

/

With all Yamamoto's baseball training, it was also inevitable that Tsuna would get caught by him. After the baseball nut slid across some mud and grabbed Jirou (that was what he'd named the dog) by the collar, there was almost no hope in catching him again.

Tsuna scratched his head miserably before Reborn gave him another dose of muddy feet. The baby explained as he wiped his shoes on Tsuna's suit pants, "Think about what a lion can do, then you'll have a way to get the dog back."

Lions ate meat…nope. Lions roared…Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Yamamoto always has sushi in his bento," Tsuna recalled, thinking about one time when Yamamoto had gone to the roof to eat, "he must live in a sushi shop!"

/

After tracking down said sushi shop in record time due to running on all fours, he noticed Gokudera spying on him from a nearby alleyway and tested his new attack – a roar that startled both the red box owner and Tsuna himself, enough for the former to come out of hiding.

Suddenly, the Akita Inu barked at the foreign sound and Yamamoto came out of the shop. His right eye was red and the kanji for 'two' was on it. Tsuna's intuition made him grit his teeth so hard he made two small marks on the sides of his mouth.

With a hard stare and a baseball bat in hand, he told them in a sinister voice, "I won't ever let you have the dog," and took a hard swing at Tsuna. He ended up running away, clumsily using all fours.

"I-I need to seal him," the brunette tried to explain, Gokudera creeping up to the dog to untie it. Then the lion boy let out another roar, this one powerful enough to break Yamamoto's possession.

Meanwhile, Gokudera was able to free Jirou and the dog licked his face, much to the boy's chagrin. "Next time you lick my face, I'm bringing out the cat," he threatened as he wiped his cheek with his sleeve.

Yamamoto looked around cluelessly. "Yamamoto, can I have the dog now?" Tsuna tried persuading once more.

"Jirou? Sure," the baseball nut tried to smile but his face was covered with concern. "But how will I have company now?"

Gokudera, who'd finally become satisfied with his dog cleansing, came up to them while Tsuna smiled. "You have us! I'm Tsuna Sawada, this is Hayato Gokudera."

While Tsuna sealed the Akita Inu, Reborn (who'd popped up randomly like he always did) made him an offer – take the Rain Ring and he would be able to see Jirou again. Of course, Yamamoto accepted.


	5. Episode 4: Late Again

Since I'm trying to stick to kyogre-ana's 'no author comments on chapter ends' formula, I never explained how the title came about - it comes from the song title _Little Lion Man_.

* * *

Tsuna groggily got up the next morning, not having realised the snooze had gone off ages ago. After rubbing his eyes, he glanced at the clock. "Oh no! It's almost time for school!" Reborn had been sleeping in a hammock ever since his arrival so the next thing Tsuna looked at was him and an idea formed in his mind…

Soon, Cambio Forma Tsuna was running to school, catching the attention of other Nami Middle students but fast enough for them to not figure out who – or what – he was. He slowed down at the final turn into the school gates, though, so the boxing club president (and only member of the boxing club) Ryohei got a good look at him.

In that loud, obnoxious way of his, the grey-haired boxing nut declared, "Wow, that's some extreme speed! It would sure be awesome if he were to join the boxing club."

/

When Tsuna finally stumbled into school, Yamamoto's face was one of concentration – not something he did very often.

As Tsuna gave a questioning glance Yamamoto's way, Gokudera poked his head in front of the brunette and told him, "This guy's been thinking of 'cool lines' for us to say as Guardians."

"W-Who filled him in on the Guardian stuff?!" Tsuna cried quietly, not only because he was in a state of panic but because Hibari was in the doorway.

Yamamoto, having heard the two, interrupted, "The baby did."

However Tsuna never got to hear that reply because he was running away from Hibari again.

/

Yamamoto snuck over to where Tsuna was during the break. "The teacher marked you as absent," he commented before showing him the list of lines he'd thought up.

Tsuna raised his head and, with a shaky finger, pointed to one line to approve it then his head fell back down again. He'd fainted from using up too much energy after Hibari's biting to death.

/

When they went home that day, Gokudera and Yamamoto joined him for the first time. However, there was also Ryohei running up to them from behind.

"Join the boxing club, Sawada!" he yelled, and the three began to run.

* * *

...I made Yamamoto think up magical guy catchphrases for them all and I'm not sorry. Besides, it seems in character for him, doesn't it?


	6. Episode 5: Haru Interferes

Gokudera wanted to get away from the 'turf-headed loon', Yamamoto was thinking it was exercise and Tsuna was running because he had absolutely no clue as to what was going on.

As they kept running, Reborn joined the group wearing a runner's outfit, keeping ahead of all of them. Finally, they stopped at a playground where a girl in a Midori Middle (a nearby prestigious school) uniform was on the swing.

Suddenly, she blinked at the sight of Reborn being throttled by Tsuna and overheard, "Why didn't you wake me up? If I'd woken up earlier I wouldn't be having such a bad day!"

"You shouldn't be asking a baby to wake you up! Babies like this one wouldn't understand you at all," she chastised, stomping up and grabbing Reborn out of Tsuna's grasp. However, she seemed really surprised at something.

"I'm not actually a baby," Reborn objected into Tsuna's ear after getting rid of his dizziness. "I was once a handsome man, and a strong gunsman at that." Tsuna gave Reborn a look of disbelief as the four took off for home, and the two exchanged blows - missed blows on the side of Tsuna - as they walked. When they crossed the bridge, however, Haru got pushed into the river because of another miss.

Reborn yelled, "You have to save her using your Cambio Forma!" Begrudgingly, Tsuna obeyed.

/

As he shook himself off, Haru in his arms, he gave a small sneeze and checked the flame on his head. It hadn't gone out even when he'd been submerged!

Soon after, Ryohei was lumbering home in his usual way when he spotted Haru (the girl) chatting with Reborn about cosplay. Tsuna had gone to dry himself off, and the other two were having a one-sided argument.

/

Meanwhile, in a nearby suburb there was a broken down building formerly known as Kokuyo Healthy Land. Inside, an indigo-haired person with a distinctive pineapple-shaped hairdo and a khaki-coloured uniform sat on the only intact chair. Two other people in similar uniforms, one with a scar across the bridge of his nose and the other with a beanie on, were sitting on the rubble-laden ground, the scarred one's jaw moving as he chewed gum.

"Kufufu," the pineapple-haired person chortled, "that boy with the Vongola Ring is going to collect all the box animals for me. Then, he'll come seeking the owl," the white owl in question landed on his shoulder on cue, "and I can claim all the boxes for us!" This was followed up by another round of his unique laughter.

/

Just as the pineapple person said 'that boy with the Vongola Ring', the trio arrived at the Sawada house. Gokudera's eyes widened at how big the backyard was, and while Nana (Tsuna's mum) organised snacks Yamamoto brought them up to speed on the catchphrases.

"The courageous lion who rules the sky?" Tsuna wondered, suddenly regretting the fact he'd chosen this particular cheesy-sounding line. However, that wasn't the only thing on his mind. "Hey Yamamoto, why did you give Gokudera and yourself catchphrases too?"

"Because it's a game of superheroes, right? Even the ones without powers need catchphrases," the baseball nut explained. Tsuna, after turning his head away, squealed quietly to not harm Yamamoto's feelings, "Hiee! He thinks it's a game..."


	7. Episode 6: Loose Animals

A few weeks later while Tsuna was headed home, Haru found him again. "I need you to help me with some childcare."

Tsuna squealed in his usual way and tried to run off. His Vongola Ring bounced against his chest, since it was now on a necklace Nana had gotten him.

/

Eventually, Haru tied Tsuna up using a gymnastics ribbon and while he begged for mercy, the box that was formerly Natsu fell off his belt.

"What's this?" Haru cried, grabbing the box and closely scrutinising it. Tsuna's jaw hit the ground as he tried to reclaim it, but obviously didn't succeed because he was a little...tied up.

/

After getting to the local day-care, Tsuna was freed and snatched the box out of her grasp before she could do anything else with it. Soon, crying could be heard and the two followed it until they found a child with an afro and cow print pyjamas.

"Lambo!" the girl wailed, just as high-pitched as Lambo's crying. "What's wrong?"

Lambo sucked up some tears then told her, "I-pin won't give me back my lollipop." I-pin was assumedly the child in stereotypical Chinese clothes.

The child called I-pin scolded him about not having too many sweets but Haru, hoping to please Lambo, forked out another lollipop from a nearby basket and gave it to her, handing the original one over to Lambo.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was checking the box for any signs of Haru harm when suddenly, Lambo (with the lollipop in his mouth) crashed into him, making his flame light involuntarily. The movement also made the ring fall into the box's opening, letting Natsu out. While Haru reasoned with Tsuna not to be angry at Lambo, Natsu ran off, scared and confused.

/

When Tsuna figured out Natsu was missing, he let Jirou out (out of Haru's sight, naturally) so that the dog could lead him to the lion. However, Jirou wanted to play with a new arrival – a kid with a scarf and a large book.

"Fuuta! Great to see you here," Haru greeted as she shooed Jirou out. Tsuna mentally screamed at the fact he'd lost his box animals in one day, but then admitted, _These animals aren't evil. Maybe they can become friends with people someday…_


	8. Episode 7: Cloud Hedgehog

The next day, there was a commotion at the fact a new English teacher had arrived - Dino Cavallone, whose dark mustard hair was better maintained than the skills of the language he was supposed to teach. Narrow scrapes with Hibari kept him a favourite amongst the girls since the disciplinary committee head kept complaining about 'biting to death regarding an invasion of private space'...and also his looks.

However, the real problem arrived when Tsuna had English, because Dino-sensei kept picking on him.

"What's the Japanese for 'hedgehog'?" he asked the brunette, straightening his glasses as he did so. After Tsuna got the question incorrect, he had a suspicion he knew what the next box animal would be.

/

Said suspicion got confirmed when a little purple hedgehog got declared lost property.

"Ah, there it is!" cried the English teacher, narrowly missing a fall as he went to claim it. Hibari kept a sceptical eye on him as Dino-sensei gingerly picked it up, hoping not to catch himself on its spikes…However, the hedgehog let out a high pitched wail and began to grow.

"Hiee!" screamed Tsuna as they all tried to escape bar Hibari.

/

"This is my fault for trying to regain my duties as the ninth Sky Guardian," Dino muttered to Tsuna, looking up at the hedgehog which was still growing larger. "Reborn had given me the task of finding your Cloud Guardian, and I haven't found anyone suited for the job. What now?"

As if in answer, chunks of debris came raining down on the evacuees, causing them to take shelter. The teacher peered around the corner to watch Hibari nudging the hedgehog with his tonfas and spotted a faintly purple haze around his weapons.

"Help that committee boy," the bespectacled adult instructed Tsuna, but when he glanced at where Tsuna had been the brunette was gone…Gokudera and Yamamoto had also vanished, he later found when he checked the class list.

/

Tsuna in Cambio Forma mode, after being forced by Yamamoto to say his line, looked for a way in which he could get the spiky ball of destruction to calm down. Now that it seemed even Hibari's attempts to calm it were futile, he needed to stop it…

Gokudera exclaimed, "I think I know a way you could stop it, but you might need some Sky Flames to do it!" While he told him the plan, Tsuna gave an understanding nod and they moved to the courtyard to evade the ever-enlarging spikes. When a spike poked itself into the courtyard, Tsuna lit his flame, placed it on the spike's tip and forced his intentions into the ring even harder. Amazingly, the orange flame started to engulf the hedgehog and counteract its growing just like Gokudera had imagined.

"Enzio…" Dino gasped, observing the shrinking hedgehog and remembering his own box turtle. Just as the hedgehog finally transformed into a box, the teacher handed over the Cloud Ring and claimed the box for Tsuna.

"You're going to have to pay for the damage you caused," Hibari told him, a deadly smirk on his face as he proceeded to bite Dino to death.

/

A few weeks later, Tsuna released the hedgehog from its box. Hibari, who'd been passing by at the time, watched on as the hedgehog gave a little yawn and took a nap on the brunette's lap. While Tsuna observed it, the disciplinary committee head turned away and walked off. His hedgehog was doing well in the hands of that herbivore.


	9. Episode 8: Sun Kangaroo

After school, they went to the zoo courtesy of Reborn.

"I managed to buy some tickets using one of my disguises," he explained after Tsuna gave a questioning look.

However, since they spotted Ryohei and Kyoko on their way in, Tsuna knew this wasn't going to end well on his part...

/

While Tsuna and co. watched the otters, Reborn snuck off to check the other exhibits for box animals and met up with Ryohei. Strangely, Gokudera wasn't focussed on what his Juudaime was doing like he usually was - instead he was concentrating on a scribbled on notepad as if he were trying to figure out a difficult maths question.

"So, you like boxing, do you?" he spoke with the accent of an old tough boxing instructor and wore the Elder Pao Pao outfit to match. Naturally, Ryohei confirmed it even though Reborn had intended for the question to be rhetorical. "You remind me of one of my own boxing instructors who owned this ring. Since I have no use for it, maybe you can keep it for me?" Clumsily, the baby held the ring in his gloved hand. (The part about Reborn having a boxing instructor was made up, of course.)

The 'ring' part made Ryohei refuse initially - something about being 'too girly' for his extreme image - but when the baby told him he could be trained to be even better at boxing, the turf-headed teen suddenly became interested.

Then Reborn spied with his little eye...a sun kangaroo.

"Spar with that kangaroo," the baby commanded, his hand making a gesture at the yellow-eyed creature with flames coming out of its ears. "I'll get you some more worthy opponents."

/

After Reborn dragged Tsuna over, Ryohei was delighted to find out who said opponent was but felt the brunette was slightly different last time they'd met. However he hadn't made any progress on getting the kangaroo out of the exhibit.

Tsuna, who'd glanced around to discover no one was looking at them, changed into Cambio Forma mode and aimed a fistful of intention for the bars of the cage. He'd made it too strong though so it ended up ruining other exhibits and allowed the animals to run wild. [Pardon the pun.]

"Kyoko!" Ryohei called out, noticing his sister amongst the chaos and rushing to save her...but Tsuna got to her first.

/

Once Tsuna relocated her to somewhere safe and saw that everyone else was safe, Ryohei had already started sparring with the kangaroo. When Tsuna returned to the kangaroo exhibit after failing to find Gokudera, the poor sun kangaroo was on the ground, battered and struggling to keep its flames alight.

There was no need to worry as the Storm Guardian showed up while Tsuna was sealing the kangaroo. What intrigued Reborn was why Gokudera, who was normally one of the first on the scene wherever Tsuna was, had chosen not to hang around the Sky Guardian today...


	10. Episode 9: Flame Arrow

A week later, Gokudera pulled his Juudaime aside, an ecstatic look on his face. He produced a box Tsuna had never seen before – it was red like his storm ring box, but it had a skull on every face except the one with the hole in it.

"Using the assistance of the Vongola weapon tuner, I managed to create this," the Storm Guardian explained. After inserting his ring into the hole, a mini cannon with a skull on the edge of its barrel attached itself to Gokudera's right arm.

"I dub it the Flame Arrow. So, Juudaime. Let's go hunt some box animals!" he declared happily to his Juudaime.

/

The duo ended up searching the whole of Namimori before they gave up. Reborn had decided to go on a sudden trip overseas so there was no one to advise them on where to find the box animals.

"I at least want to try out the Flame Arrow," Gokudera grumbled, clearly disappointed with not being able to help Tsuna. After arriving at an open field, Gokudera aimed his cannon at the sky, shoved some lit dynamite into it and fired.

The result looked almost like a firework of storm flames.

At this, the grey-haired boy's knees buckled underneath him as if he'd given up already, but a hand on his shoulder cut short his despair. His Juudaime had come to cheer him up, naturally.

"It just needs some work," Tsuna commented as the two headed back.

/

The 'firework' had apparently split up into lots of smaller flames and rained down on people's houses, so an angry mob was waiting for the ones who'd started it.

"It's going to need lots of work!" Gokudera cried, doing a 180 and retracing his footsteps while sprinting.

Tsuna, who'd changed into Cambio Forma mode, told the Storm Guardian to get on his back and so the two fled the scene.

However, this also made Tsuna skip school for a week due to back pain.

* * *

The aforementioned weapon tuner is Giannichi, not Giannini.


	11. Episode 10: Water Everywhere

The reason for the weapons tuner being Giannichi is because Giannini sucks at his job in the current timeline. Anyway…this next chapter wasn't part of kyogre-ana's idea.

* * *

After Reborn returned (which was one week after Tsuna went back to school), Gokudera had finally perfected Flame Arrow and was just showing it to Tsuna in the schoolyard when the baby decided to use Tsuna's head as a seat.

"It turns out someone stole two of the boxes that was previously sealed and now they're in Japan," the baby told the two, tilting his fedora down when Dino happened to pass by and listen in.

"I just happened to see one – Yamamoto's with it right now," the teacher added, patting one pocket of his jacket... but then his eyes widened.

Enzio, which Dino had been allowed to keep ever since he sealed it, had gone missing!

/

Sure enough, when they reached the school's baseball diamond, there was an object shrouded in blue flames sitting on Yamamoto's shoulder as he did pitching practice.

Gokudera shouted back, "That's our target, baseball nut!" Yamamoto looked at him blankly.

Yamamoto's face told him otherwise, and the rain ring Reborn had given him suddenly lit with the same blue flame as the ones surrounding the swallow.

"Juudaime, forgive me…I'm not worthy to be your right hand man…" Gokudera whimpered as Yamamoto merged with Kojirou. Like Tsuna's Cambio Forma, Yamamoto was in a suit but with a blue shirt and, appropriately enough, the jacket's back hem was shaped like a swallow's tail. The swallow's flame-coated wings protruded from his shoulder blades as if Yamamoto was an angel. He might not have fully qualified as an 'angel' though because the swallow's claws - and some of its feathers - had been transferred to his hands.

Just after Tsuna assumed his Cambio Forma mode, his forehead flame flared up. From his enhanced hearing, he could tell there was panic at the Namimori pool.

/

After the group arrived, the pool was empty…except for Ryohei, who was doing his I'm-struggling-to-even-swim freestyle. There was a rain shark silently coming from behind, ready to devour the boxing nut…

However, just before the shark could get any closer, Yamamoto flew in and pulled him out. (The baseball nut was of course clearly surprised at suddenly knowing how to fly...)

"I wanted to do that!" Gokudera fumed before he realised now was his chance to prove himself as a worthy right hand man. He fired off some dynamite using Flame Arrow, noticing that his flame didn't go out in the water, then lit his ring and jabbed the shark. It didn't work.

/

Meanwhile, Tsuna had just resealed Enzio when Yamamoto swooped down and briefed him on the situation at Gokudera's end. The turtle had wandered away from the pool after being submerged, but hadn't gotten too far or caused too much damage.

"Gokudera!" Tsuna cried. The brunette rushed back to find the grey-haired boy repeatedly attacking the shark, even though the latter boy knew it was useless.

However, Ryohei – who hadn't gone home yet – had decided this was 'boxing with a shark' and managed to light his ring as he performed an uppercut, sending it out of the water. Just before it hit the pool's surface, Tsuna sealed it away and fell in with a splash.

"Sawada, are you trying to swim with your clothes on? We aren't holding the lifesaving class right now," the boxing nut commented.

While Gokudera helped Tsuna out of the pool, the lion boy sensed a deadly aura nearby...


	12. Episode 11: Lightning Bull

After Tsuna dried his clothes off using the bathroom hand dryer (which took a very long time), he headed home, the beginnings of a cold already toying with his nose. Everyone else had left before he did except Gokudera, who'd been sleeping on a bench while waiting for his Juudaime and had woken up rather easily.

/

In the dusk, Tsuna thought he heard the sound of something breathing heavily, and it sure wasn't Gokudera.

He dismissed the thought at first but when he realised there was something warm and black on his left, he knew he wasn't dreaming.

It was a bull, its angry eyes nearly invisible in the almost-gone sun.

A small voice in his head, which he'd suppressed for a long time, whispered to him to face his fears, so even though he wanted to run, he'd stand and fight.

/

Dino and Reborn hurried over to where Tsuna and Gokudera were just as the streetlights blinked on. (Then again, the grey-haired boy was using Flame Arrow so maybe the lights weren't quite necessary. ) As Tsuna gave a rather helpless sneeze, Gokudera rushed in and tossed some dynamite to finish the job.

"Alright, Juudaime! Your turn!" he declared.

Tsuna darted in, his ring surrounded by sky flames. However, as he did so, the boxes detached from his belt and levitated. The brunette grabbed at them but when he got one, the box shocked him!

Speaking of boxes, the bull's box was strapped around its neck but instead of it sitting near the bull's jaw it was around the other way, so Reborn had to hop on its back and brave the vigorous movement before examining the box for himself.

"Only a person with a mist flame could have tampered with the box in this way…" he muttered as Dino managed to slide in and pluck the baby – plus the box - off the bull's back.

Just as Tsuna sealed the bull box and stashed it away, he felt an eerie presence and spotted a guy his age with indigo pineapple hair sneaking off with his lion box…and another copy of the guy with his kangaroo box…all his boxes were held by copies of this pineapple-haired boy! An indigo cloud wrapped around his bottom half, snatching away the box before turning into another copy of the pineapple haired boy. Gokudera fired indiscriminately at all five but since they were all illusions, it didn't work. Dino tried his whip, but he only ended up giving himself a fall.

"Kufufu…Remember my face well, because you might just never see it – or the boxes – again," the copy with the bull box told him before all five copies vanished with an unexpected _poof_, taking the boxes with them.

Tsuna just hung his head sadly. It was obvious by now that he wasn't responsible enough to be a Sky Guardian…


End file.
